Chapter 61: Chapter Sixty-One

I quickly drank the potion, expecting to hate it, but was pleasantly surprised when I found I actually liked it. It was sweet and smooth like milk chocolate, but tasted like strawberry. When I finished the vial, Damien set it to the side and kneeled in front of me, taking my face between his hands.

"How is it? Are you okay?" Damien asked me once I'd finished drinking down the potion, his eyes scouring every inch of my face for any hint of pain or disdain. This earned him an offended scoff from Divinity, who turned around and clicked the blender on, drowning out his next words.

I nodded with a smile, not feeling any different, but I knew it would take a few minutes before I felt anything. "I'm fine, Damien. It's me who should be worrying."

"I'll be fine." He responded reassuringly as Divinity handed him a glass filled with a thick chunky white liquid.

I crinkled my nose at the sight of it, and shook my head. "That looks grotesque!" I exclaimed, pinching my nose as the smell wafted to me. It smelled like week old garbage that had been laying out in the sun.

"It's not the smell you should be concerned with, Bastet." Divinity said, nodding her head to Damien, motioning for him to drink it. Just as he put the cup to his lips, she jumped forward and lowered it, gasping out. "This will take into effect nearly immediately. You should be ready for when it happens."

Damien sighed and stood, setting the cup down as he stood and took my hand, before picking the cup back up. The three of us walked back to the house, where Sam and Sinclair stood waiting by the front door, watching us as we came closer. When we got a couple of hundred feet away from the two, they both took a step back, the smell of the potion hitting them.

"You couldn't have tried to cover that smell?" Sam asked, eying the glass suspiciously.

"That smells like death." Sinclair commented.

"Well it does remove death, in a sense. Could something that powerful really smell like roses?" I said with a small laugh. Although I joked about it, I found nothing about it funny.

Divinity did not respond, but walked past the pair and into the hall underneath the staircases. When I saw where she was going, I looked at Damien curiously, but didn't ask what I wanted to. If this is what he thought was best, I wouldn't question it. Not aloud, anyways.

"Precautionary measure." Damien said softly as he led me down into the basement, Sam and Sinclair following close behind.

"Did you replace the lock? I doubt you can still use it after what I did to it." Sinclair asked as we arrived in the basement, the big cage still the same as when Sinclair broke out of it.

"I had it replaced, while Bast was missing." Damien snapped over his shoulder as he gave me a quick peck on the lips, before going into the cage, and sitting down on the cot. He held the glass up, inspecting the drink for a moment, before bringing it to his lips. I saw his upper lip twitch slightly as he tasted the concoction, but then he growled and drank it quickly, grumbling in disgust as he set the glass down on the ground.

"Wh-?" I began to ask Divinity, but was cut off as a blood-curdling scream echoed throughout the basement, bringing my attention back to Damien.

Before I could say anything more, Damien roared again, grabbing his chest as he fell to the ground. His eyes were alive with pain as his body began to convulse, thrashing uncontrollably. His pulchritudinous face painted in a mixture of excruciating emotions, his hand gripping and tearing at his shirt above his heart, like he was trying to rip it out of his chest.

"Damien!" I cried out, trying to run to him. I didn't know what I would do, but I felt like I needed to do something, anything. Despite the fact that I knew it would be painful, and I knew it would hurt to watch. But what I expected, and what I was witnessing, where two completely different things.

"No!" Divinity shouted, putting her arms around my waist, pulling me further away from the gut-wrenching scene unfolding in front of me. "Your demands to be present were granted, but you cannot interfere." She said in my ear, yanking me until we were a safe enough distance from the cage.

I watched in horror as Damien turned on his knees, coughing and gagging as some sort of pitch black smoke was being expelled from his lungs at an alarming rate. Just when I thought the worst was over, his eyes went dead as he locked onto me; looking directly at me, but ostensibly seeing nothing.

"Is it over?" I whispered, wanting nothing more than to feel a twinge of hope. Somehow, looking at Damien's dead eyes, I knew that the worst hadn't happened yet. I wanted nothing more at that moment than to be wrong. I watched as Damien slowly walked to the cage door, his orbs never leaving me, then punched the door; throwing it across the basement in one swift movement. The sound of the steel door hitting the ground, felt like the sound of my death, echoing loudly in my ears. I did the only thing I could do; which was to watch helplessly as he began to stride towards me, driven by nothing else but the primal need for me, or rather: my blood.

"Lucifer!" Sam screamed, running forward to catch him, but it was too late. Damien had managed to evade Sam, and lunged at Divinity and I. In the nick of time, Sinclair was crouched in front of us snarling, his golden eyes glowing like a sun in the otherwise dimly lit room. This only seemed to phase Damien for a second, as he ignored Sinclair's warning, and lunged towards us again. This resulted in a snarl from Sinclair as he attacked Damien, throwing him on his back, holding him down by the throat.

I'd never been more thankful than I was at this moment, for making Damien accept recreants, as Sinclair's strength and speed was the only reason I was alive. I tried my best to calm my breathing as I watched Sinclair continually fight off Damien's advances, slowly but surely edging him back towards the cage. While Sinclair forced Damien back, Sam picked up the steel door and set it back on its hinges, then grabbed Damien by the collar; flinging him back into the cage.

Damien tried once again to break free, but was stopped by the pair who held the door closed, yelling and shouting for him to cease the futile attempt. It seemed to finally resonate with Damien that he wouldn't get free, as he collapsed on the ground once again, but this time he didn't move. The four of us watched quietly as Damien's already pale completion drained further, leaving him white as a ghost and unmoving. After what felt like multiple lifetimes, we watched as color slowly returned to his face, and spread through the rest of his body.

"The transformation has completed." Divinity said after a few moments, watching Damien closely, as if this may have been an act. She hesitantly released me, and tried to grab my arm as I skirted away.

I immediately ran to the door and tried to open it, but was stopped by Sam and Sinclair, who refused to move. "Move!" I yelled, trying to squeeze past them, but to no avail as they remained, motionless.

"After what just happened, I cannot take a chance like that, little human." Sinclair whispered softly, his eyes looking straight ahead, just above my head.

"You aren't taking the chance, I am. Let me through!"

"I cannot."

I let out an aggravated groan and turned to Sam instead, who refused to look down at me, staring into nothingness instead as he shook his head softly, pursing his lips.

I felt tears welling up in my eyes as I ran along the side of the cage until I was just in front of Damien, who still hadn't stirred. I cried out in a mixture of pain and frustration as I tried to climb between the bars, but still couldn't reach him. "Damien, wake up!" I screamed to him, forcing my arm between the bars, nearly dislocating my shoulder but ignoring the pain.

"Damien, please. Wake up!" I screamed again, this time barely grasping the edge of his shirt, before a hand grabbed me from behind and yanked me back.

"You'll dislocate your shoulder, Bastet!" Sinclair growled.

"If you don't let me go, I'll dislocate you!" I shouted in response, trying to get free.

"Let her go." A barely audible whisper came from inside the cage, pulling everyone's attention back to Damien.

"Ow!" I exclaimed as Sinclair released me suddenly, causing me to fall to the ground. I didn't waste another second as I scrambled to my feet, and ran to the cage once more. This time, Sam didn't stop me, but he took my shoulder and walked with me to where Damien was struggling to sit.

"What happened?" Damien grumbled, rubbing his forehead.

"A lot happened, how are you feeling?" I asked, putting my arms around him. I jumped back in surprise when I felt the warmth of his arms as they wrapped around me, attempting to pull me close. I quickly got over my shock and hugged him again, putting my face against his throat. The feeling of his heart beating against my face, is one I couldn't begin to explain as the tears began to fall freely.

"I'm feeling... Heh. I'm feeling alive." Damien said with a slight laugh, kissing the top of my head softly. He waited a few minutes before attempting to stand, picking me up ceremoniously, rubbing his cheek against mine. "Little one, why are you crying?" He mumbled softly, kissing my tears.

"I can't believe you're... you-" I tried to speak, but couldn't find the words to express the way I was feeling. I'm not even sure if there are words to express the pure and endless joy and mirth I felt; feeling his steady heartbeat, the warmth of his skin, the softness and emotions in his voice.

"We have twelve hours, kitten. It's not going to end so quickly."

"Actually, you'll have more." Divinity said, taking a few steps forward, with a soft but impish smile. I gathered twice the ingredients for you. It has to be taken as you're reverting."

"So how long could I stay this way?" Damien asked her, setting me back on my feet.

"Unfortunately, no more than twenty-four hours." She said, walking back towards the stairwell.

The rest of us followed her, hanging on her every word as she explained. Damien could stay human for twenty-four hours, but no longer than that. If he tried to extend it again, his own venom would poison him, and kill him. Since only the vampire who injected the venom could remove it, and Damien being a human, he would have no chance to survive at that point.

After she was done explaining, she motioned to Sam and Sinclair to come with her, before speaking once again. "I'll be back in twelve hours to give you the new dose." She added, then turned and closed the door behind her.

"What do you want to do first?" I asked Damien, giddy with excitement.

"Do think it necessary to ask?" He asked me, raising an eyebrow, a smile slowly growing as he looked down at me.

"Well don't you want to eat? Or take a really hot shower?" I responded with a giggle, taking a few steps back as he sauntered towards me.

"Oh, I'm going to eat, and a shower will be needed." He retorted, scooping me into his arms, before walking up the stairs.